Settle something for me and a Friend

ok my friend claims to study Martial arts and well frankly I think he's at a McDojo. But he's not really willing to admit it and that he is not and he is learning from legit instructors, blah blah blah

Basically the only information he will give me is it's a school run by the USSD somewhere near Thousand Oaks Ca.

Also he says he's tried to find any and all flaws in the art/teaching of his school and can't find them. Well frankly I don't mean to rain on his parade but I trust you guys more than I trust myself in researching details about this stuff.

I really don't want to hurt the kid either (He's about 4 years younger than I am) should his stuff be found to be nothing but a glorfied Shaolin-do school.

I'm not trying to hurt him or anything. I'm just really weary about these types of martial arts schools and people I consider my friends.

(And yes I have searched the message boards for these but there were so many pages that didnt' have the information I was looking for directly. Mainly the History of the Shaolin-do thing that is over 10 pages of information and I don't know which page to look on.)

The shaolin temples of today are kung fu theme parks staffed by circus acrobats employed by the chinese government. They've got so little confidence in the ability of that place to train fighters that they send the 'monks' who they want to compete in asian full-contact tournaments to Thailand for MT training. Pretty much any western krotty instructor with a beer gut and a mullet can obtain a certificate, or a photo of themselves shaking hands with a monk, from the Shaolin temple for roughly the price of a second hand car.

"Cube Dweller to Kung Fu Kicker" is the title of the new episode of "Faking It" on The Learning Channel. Here's the breakdown from TLC:

Chicago desk-jockey, Bob Phares is stuck typing HTML code in his tiny cubicle. But his mild manner is about to kick it a bit... because Kung Fu movie action-queen Cynthia Rothrock will train Bob to enter a contest and fake it as a Martial Arts expert."

Why do they have THAT on their website?? If that's their best claim to fame, I feel sorry for them. I saw that episode, and let me tell you something - I feel bad for the guy. He learned how to do forms and break boards. That's IT. He did NOT learn how to fight or how to defend himself. If that is what this USSD school is teaching, and if that is what your friend wants to learn - how to do forms and break boards - more power to him. Just make sure he understands that this is NOT the same thing as learning self defense or how to fight.

Seriously, I feel bad for the guy in that TLC episode. Rumor has it that he quit his job to move to CA and study karate. And he's married, so I feel bad for his wife, too.

It depends on what you read. He isn't recognized outside of USSD as a Shaolin Martial Arts Master. Just like Grand Master The' is only recognized with in Shaolin-Do. I think you mistook what Johnny was implying. He said read the SD thread because USSD comes up in that thread negatively.

"Cube Dweller to Kung Fu Kicker" is the title of the new episode of "Faking It" on The Learning Channel. Here's the breakdown from TLC:

Chicago desk-jockey, Bob Phares is stuck typing HTML code in his tiny cubicle. But his mild manner is about to kick it a bit... because Kung Fu movie action-queen Cynthia Rothrock will train Bob to enter a contest and fake it as a Martial Arts expert."

Why do they have THAT on their website?? If that's their best claim to fame, I feel sorry for them. I saw that episode, and let me tell you something - I feel bad for the guy. He learned how to do forms and break boards. That's IT. He did NOT learn how to fight or how to defend himself. If that is what this USSD school is teaching, and if that is what your friend wants to learn - how to do forms and break boards - more power to him. Just make sure he understands that this is NOT the same thing as learning self defense or how to fight.

Seriously, I feel bad for the guy in that TLC episode. Rumor has it that he quit his job to move to CA and study karate. And he's married, so I feel bad for his wife, too.

F - You, TLC!

Pretty sad for that dude. . .especially since Rothrock herself trains full-contact.
Is that show a limited time thing?